Louvre arrangements

ABSTRACT

A louvre arrangement comprising a plurality of louvre boards each mounted at their ends by mounting members of thermoplastic materials. The mounting members each including an integral projection, to engage in apertures in a frame of an aperture in a wall which the louvre arrangement is to obstruct, to form bearings about which the louvre boards can be pivoted, and also including an integral projection to form weather stripping to seal the gap between the respective mounting member and the frame.

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 465,787 12/1891 Stoeppelwerth et al. 49/403 2,845,153 7/1958 West 49/92 X 3,084,405 4/ 1963 Kahn et al. 49/91 X 3,123,098 3/1964 Bishop 49/92 X 3,205,541 9/1965 Beards 49/91 X 3,290,823 12/1966 Okumoro 49/74 X 3,366,032 1/1968 Alamprese 49/91 X 3,375,608 4/1968 Thompson 49/91 X Primary Examiner-David J. Williamowsky Assistant Examiner-Philip C. Kannan Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller and Mosher ABSTRACT: A louvre arrangement comprising a plurality of louvre boards each mounted at their ends by mounting members of thermoplastic materials, The mounting members each including an integral projection, to engage in apertures in a frame'of an aperture in a wall which the louvre arrangement is to obstruct, to form bearings about which the louvre boards can be pivoted, and also including an integral projection to form weather stripping to seal the gap between the respective mounting member and the frame.

PATENTEnJuu 3|97l 359L980 SHEET 1 OF 3 PATENTEU JUL 1 31911 SHEET 2 [IF 3 LOUVRIE ARRANGEMENTS II BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Louvre arrangements are known, for covering an aperture in a wall or the like, comprising a plurality of pivoted louvre boards formed as strip members movable between a position in which they lie parallel with the plane of the wall to obstruct the aperture and positions in which they are at an angle to the plane of the wall to allow flow of air between the boards. Such arrangements when formed of metal had the disadvantages that they were noisy and were liable to corrosion at surfaces forming bearings about which the louvre boards pivoted, leading in time to difficulty in opening the louvre boards and liability of breakage when attempting to do so. Such arrangements also permitted draughts at the edges where the louvre boards abutted a frame lining the aperture and adhesive weather stripping applied to the louvre boards was liable to be damaged when the louvre boards were opened.

An object of the invention is to avoid this disadvantage and to provide a louvre arrangement which is not liable to corrosion at bearing surfaces about which louvre boards of the arrangement are pivoted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a louvre arrangement having mounting members of the louvre boards formed of thermoplastic material, preferably of nylon, whereby the mounting members are cheap to produce and the bearing surfaces thereon need no lubrication. The louvre boards may be of an opaque, translucent or transparent material. Integral projections on said mounting member engage in apertures in a frame of an aperture which the louvre arrangement is to obstruct and form the pivot bearings. Integral sealing means on said mounting members seal the gap between said mounting members and adjacent faces of said frame.

Preferably, the mounting members are provided one at each end of each of a plurality of louvre boards and are coupled by connection means whereby they may simultaneously be moved between open and closed positions. The mounting members advantageously include further projections forming bearing surfaces for coupling them to the connection means.

The sealing means may comprise a ridge on the outer faces of the mounting members, that is to say the faces lying adjacent the frame of the aperture, the ridge being adapted to lie in a vertical plane in the closed position of the louvre boards and to engage the inner faces of the frame of the apertures.

III BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the outer face ofa mounting member;

FIG. 2 shows a corresponding side view;

FIG. 3 shows the inner face of a mounting member of opposite hand;

FIG. 4 is a section on line CD of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation through a louvre arrangement;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on line EE of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a plan view ofa louvre arrangement.

IV PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, a mounting member 1 (FIG. 1) of nylon has an upright portion 3, that is to say a portion which in the closed position of louvre boards mounted in the mounting member is upright, and a laterally projecting portion 5. A mounting member la (FIG. 3) also of nylon is similar to the mounting member 1 shown in FIG. 1 except that it is of opposite hand and thus is in effect a mirror image of the mounting member of FIG. 1. Like reference numerals are used for like parts of mounting members 1 and la.

The upright member 3 of the mounting members 1 and la includes an edge flange 7 and inner flanges 9 and 11, the inner flanges Q and 11 having a gap 13 therebetween and being separatedfrom the edge flange 7 by a groove 15. The inner flange 9 has an inwardly turned lower edge portion 17 forming a web with a hole 19 therein and also has an inwardly turned upper edge portion 21.

The opposite face of each of the mounting members 1 and 1a to those having the flanges 7, 9 and 11, includes a projection 23 formed as a hollow bush on the upright member 3 and a projection 25 also formed as a hollow bush on the laterally extending portion 5. At the position at which each of the projections 23 and 25 join the upright member 3 and laterally extending member 5 respectively, a raised boss portion 27, 29 are provided for the projections 23 and 25 respectively.

A ridge 31 extends along the center of the outer face of the upright member 3, that is to say the face including the projection 23, to act as a weather strip as described in greater detail hereinafter. The weather strip has laterally extending portions 33 and 35 at the upper and lower ends respectively, the lateral projections 33 and 35 being in an opposite direction to the lateral projection 5. i

As shown in FIGS. 5,6 and 7, pairs of mounting members 1 and 1a each support between them a louvre board 37. Each louvre board 37 has a face portion 39, an upper edge portion 41 which engages the flanges 21 of the mounting members 1 and 1a and an upper sealing portion 43 to cooperate with a sealing lip 45 of a frame 46 for the aperture which the louvre boards are to obstruct. The ends of the face portion 39 engage in the grooves 15 between the flanges 7 and 9 and 13 of the mounting members 1 and la, and a middle flange 47 of the louvre board 37 passes through the gap 13 between the inner flanges 9 and 11 of the mounting members 1 and la to lie adjacent the web 17. It can be secured to the web 17 by means of an aluminum or nylon fastener 49 passing through a hole in the middle flange 47 and through the hole 19 in the web 17. A lower edge portion 51 of the louvre board 37 engages within the upper sealing portion 43 of the next louvre board 37.

As best shown in FIG. 7, the projections 23 of the mounting members 1 and 1a engage in apertures 53 in side members 55 of the frame 46 and form bearing surfaces about which the mounting members I and la can rotate with respect to the side members 55. The raised boss portions 27 ensure that the upright portions 3 of the mounting members 1 and 1a are spaced from the side members 55 to permit easy operation, with the weather strip 31 sealing the gap between the side members 55 and the upright portions 3 to prevent draughts.

The projections 25 engage in apertures 57 in an operating bar 59, as also shown in FIG. 5, so that downward movement of the operating bar 59 will simultaneously open each of the louvre boards 37. Since the projections 23, 25 are of nylon, the bearings they form with the apertures 53, 57 need no lubrication and metal-to-metal contact is avoided.

The louvre boards 37 may be lengths of a metal extrusion, for example aluminum or opaque, translucent or transparent plastic material.

A return angle lip 61 at the lower end of the lateral projection 35 from the weather strip 31 overlaps the adjacent lower mounting member 1 or 1a to minimize water leakage between the mounting members 1 and la and the side members 55. The axis of the weather stripping 31 extends through the center of the mounting formed by the projections 23 so that, even during wind loading, the weather stripping will not deflect away from the jamb member. The lateral projection 35 of the weather strip 31 extends at an angle of 45 from the axis of the frame members 35 to allow maximum adjustment in the center-to-center distance of the mounting members 1 and a.

The projections 23 are of a length slightly greater than the thicknesses of the frame members 55 in which they engage so that when rivets (not shown) passing through the center of the hollow projection 23 are deformed there will be no metal-tometal contact between the rivets and the frame members 55. A similar arrangement is provided for the projections 25 and the operating bars 59.

The shape of the groove may be varied from that shown to suit the cross section of the louvre blade to be used therewith. The inner flanges 9 and 11 project i a greater distance from the mounting member 1 or la than the edge flange 7 so that they can withstand a greater inward wind load and also to allow a leadin for ease of louvre blade assembly. The gap 13 receiving the middle flange 47 of the louvre blade controls the height positioning of the louvre blade 37 with respect to' the mounting members 1 and la.

lclaim: l. A louvre arrangement comprising a louvre board; a supporting framehaving side members formed to present apertures therein; a mounting member formed of a thermoplastic material for mounting one end of said louvre board in the frame and a further mounting member formed of a thermoplastic material for mounting the other end of said louvre board in the frame in a manner to permit pivotal movement of said louvre board with respect to said frame between an open position and a closed position; an integral projection on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said integral projections engaging in said apertures in said side members of said frame to form pivot bearings for mounting said mounting member and said further mounting member in said frame; integral sealing means projecting from one face of each said mounting member and said further mounting member for sealing said mounting member and said further mounting member with respect to said frame when said louvre board is in said closed position; elongated flanges spaced apart on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said elongated flanges extending in a vertical direction in the closed position of the louvre board to define a channel therebetween to receive said louvre board ends; a securing flange on each said mounting member and said further mounting member extending perpendicular to said elongated flanges adjacent a discontinuity in an adjacent one of said elongated flanges; a projecting flange on said louvre board at right angles to the general plane of said louvre board, said projecting flange extending through said discontinuity, and securing means for securing said projecting flange to said securing flange on each said mounting member and said further mounting member.

2. The louvre arrangement claimed in claim 1, wherein on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said elongated flange which includes said discontinuity extends a greater distance from its respective mounting member than the other elongated flange. 

1. A louvre arrangement comprising a louvre board; a supporting frame having side members formed to present apertures therein; a mounting member formed of a thermoplastic material for mounting one end of said louvre board in the frame and a further mounting member formed of a thermoplastic material for mounting the other end of said louvre board in the frame in a manner to permit pivotal movement of said louvre board with respect to said frame between an open position and a closed position; an integral projection on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said integral projections engaging in said apertures in said side members of said frame to form pivot bearings for mounting said mounting member and said further mounting member in said frame; integral sealing means projecting from one face of each said mounting member and said further mounting member for sealing said mounting member and said further mounting member with respect to said frame when said louvre board is in said closed position; elongated flanges spaced apart on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said elongated flanges extending in a vertical direction in the closed position of the louvre board to define a channel therebetween to receive said louvre board ends; a securing flange on each said mounting member and said further mounting member extending perpendicular to said elongated flanges adjacent a discontinuity in an adjacent one of said elongated flanges; a projecting flange on said louvre board at right angles to the general plane of said louvre board, said projecting flange extending through said discontinuity, and securing means for securing said projecting flange to said securing flange on each said mounting member and said further mounting member.
 2. The louvre arrangement claimed in claim 1, wherein on each said mounting member and said further mounting member, said elongated flange which includes said discontinuity extends a greater distance from its respective mounting member than the other elongated flange. 